Sophie takes a deep breath and lets it out, gently caressing the rim of her still-full water cup. “Maybe if I was with a man like you, I’d reconsider the whole baby thing.”
It’s a compliment mixed with something else. Mischief?
Mollee holds up a bite of ice cream to me and I take it instead of responding to Sophie.
“Would you ever give us another chance?”
I choke on a chunk of cookie dough. Mollee hops off my lap, obviously fearing the worst, as I reach for a drink of water.
“What?” I splutter.
“You know…” Sophie’s fingers tiptoe up my leg beneath the table, so I scoot out of her reach and right into a table leg. “Would you ever want to get back together?”
As if my jumping away from her touch isn’t answer enough?
“I’ve thought about you almost every day since we graduated high school.” Her eyes dart to my chest, and she licks her lips. “Seeing you at your mom’s the other day reminded me how much I missed you. I want you back.”
My stomach churns and a pinprick of sweat breaks out along my forehead. What do I say to that?Thanks but no thanks?
She looks at me with fire in her gaze. “Ward, give me another chance. I’m not the stuck-up girl I used to be.”
I almost snort but manage to stop myself just in time. She’s right; she was caring when it came to Mollee, and genuinely sorry about what happened to Hallee, but there had never been anything more between us than a tiny spark that fizzled out faster than a three-year-old’s birthday candles. On my end anyway.
“I’m sorry, Sophie. I’m sure you’ve…” Her hand connects with my thigh again, and I scoot my chair back and press on. “Grown. But I’m…kind of dating someone right now.”
Not an outright lie. I didkind ofgo on a date with Lyndi—and Crew, if we are calling it a date—but Sophie doesn’t need to know that.
“Five minutes ago you weren’t looking for a relationship and now you’re dating someone?”
Right.I forgot that was the last excuse I used to get away from her.
I huff out a laugh. “Well, you know, sometimes these things just happen when you aren’t looking for love.”
My ears burn. Did I just saylove?
Sophie purses her lips, her fine-lined eyebrows furrowing together. “Is she prettier than me?”
There’s the Sophie I know. I trip over incoherent words. “She’s, uh, beautiful. Really beautiful.”
Her frown deepens, and her face turns beet red. “Is she more successful than me? More connected?”
I’m not sure how we got here so fast, but here we are. I forgot how jealous Sophie used to get. In high school, she went so far as to superglue girls’ underclothes to their lockers if they flirted with the guy she dated.
Apparently, she hasn’t grown all that much.
“Those things don’t matter to me.” I try to dissolve her anger before my mother gets back from her phone call. Or maybe I shouldn’t; then my mom would see the side of Sophie I always saw.
“So I never mattered to you?” Sophie’s expression shifts to one full of hurt. That or she just smelled something awful.
And just like that, we are back in high school. The only difference between then and now is I don’t care. I don’t have to stick around for her drama.
“I’m sorry you’ve had a rough day.” I grab the now-empty cup, the little ice cream covered girl, and stand. “Don’t worry about Hallee. She’s tough.”
I drop the cup in the trash, grab a few napkins and start cleaning the wiggling monkey in my arms.
“Ward, please. Give me a chance. I was so much better when I was with you,” Sophie says, her voice bordering on whiny.
That’s a lie. I never made her better in any way.
